A Short History of Pillowcase Dress Making By Nancie Rhodes

I learned how to make pillowcase dresses four or five years ago from Rachel Eggum of Hope 4 Women International.  Rachel has dedicated many years to the empowerment of widows in Uganda.  Many widows have been taught how to sew and produce clothes for their families.

 In the U.S., thousands of dresses have been made by voluteers for distribution to girls in Ugandan villages.  Since we organized Burning Bush, many valley women (and men) have collectively produced over 900 dresses.  These have been given to girls in Uganda over two different trips.  The goal this year is to make 900 dresses.  Our ministry is going to concentrate the distribution in a very poor area of Uganda, referred to as the Teso/Ngora district.

Many groups and individuals are helping produce these dresses. I have a regular once-a-month group that meets at First Christian Church, El Centro.  Over 30 ladies from the First Christian Church Spanish Sevice met on a Friday night.  Ten sewing machines were humming and the fabric was flying.  We had a great time and everyone seemed to love it.  Ladies from St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Holtville, several ladies from Yuma, and a number of othes are working independently to help make these dresses.

I would like to specifically thank Terri Darr, Maria Sciaky, and Evoyn Thomas for their continued support of this project.